Review: Chris Rock @ the Palace, 4/10/17

ALBANY — Chris Rock has been away from standup comedy for several years. He’s been, as he reminded an adoring, soldout audience Monday night at the Palace Theatre during a 75-minute set of mostly brilliant and polished new material, making movies, hosting the Oscars and getting divorced.

Rock has also, as he obliquely referred to only once during the show, been getting a $40 million payday from Netflix for two forthcoming comedy specials, which are the reason for his current four-month, 60-date tour. To preserve the freshness of the routine he’s honing on the road for shows on the streaming service, Rock had taken the extraordinary step of requiring that any patron cellphone brought into theaters be secured in lockable fabric pouches made by a company called Yondr; fans keep their phones but aren’t able to use them inside the venue, which greatly improves the concert experience itself, with no distracting screen glare or patrolling security during the performance, and prevents posting of clips on YouTube or social media but causes minor delays and other hassles before and after a show.

2 Responses

It was a great show. My friend and I really enjoyed it. The cellphone ban was actually a nice change. I think that people were able to enjoy the show more being disconnected from the outside world. I think all shows should follow suit.